The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the constitutionality of a Massachusetts buffer zone law. Conservatives see it as a chance to pounce on the idea that abortion patients deserve to be left alone as they enter clinics.

The ordinance, which took effect immediately, protects patients of the city’s only abortion clinic, who have said they faced a weekly “gauntlet” of harassment from protesters with the Pro-Life Missionaries of Maine.

The Portland city council has agreed to proceed with public comment regarding a potential buffer zone to protect patients of the city’s abortion clinic from being harassed and intimidated by anti-choice protesters.